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“Our approach today was to get in here a little bit earlier, change things up dramatically and get them out of a comfort zone from a normal practice. It becomes a big issue Sunday. We do play a noon game, it’s 10:00 a.m. our time. It’s a way for them to understand that we need to be ready at 12 when the ball is kicked off.”

On Don Coryell being nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame:

“I didn’t know that and I’m excited about it. I saw the quote in one of the articles about if you’ve had an impact over that extended period of time on any sport. Coach Coryell obviously has impacted the national football league. He’s got a system of offense that is still being used throughout the league. Everything he accomplished, I think it would be awesome if he would be voted in.”

On Jared Gaither’s level of participation being equal to yesterday:

“He did more today. I think every day we’ve done more. He’s making the kind of progress I was hoping for.”

On the officials reaching a deal with the NFL:

“I just think it’s great. I think it’s great for them in terms of getting back to work and accomplishing what they wanted to accomplish. I think it’s great for the league. Obviously the last month has been trying but as I said, I’m really proud of our players and our team, the way our guys have handled it. Even though everyone had their thoughts on what is going on around them, they did a good job of not dwelling on it.”

“I think anytime you go back and play against guys you know extremely well it brings out a little bit extra in you. I think we’ve seen that a little bit in practice this week. Once you get going I think it’s a game and you’re playing against an opponent you’ve studied throughout the week. They probably see them a lot differently now than they did when they were there.”

On Jackie Battle’s running style of falling forward to get the extra yard:

“I think that takes a toll throughout the game. That’s what we were able to do in the Tennessee game and get him some carries after the defense had played a lot of snaps. I think he’s the perfect guy in that situation. That was a disappointing thing, obviously we weren’t able to get that accomplished. That was something we wanted to get done and we weren’t able to get in that mode. It’s going to be important for us to do that as much as we can.”

On whether it is realistic to think that Jared Gaither might be ready to play against the Chiefs:

“I don’t know that it is unrealistic. I think it would be very difficult. I watched him do it before. He did it a year ago. He came here on a Wednesday and played in a Monday night game. We knew nothing about him so we’ll just see how he feels tomorrow.”

On the pressure of the veterans leading the team to bounce back from the loss against Atlanta:

“The biggest thing for us, and this is something we’ve talked about regularly, is everything thing you do starting in April, May, June, July or August. I talked about last Thursday was one of the best practices we’ve had but none of it matters if you don’t play well on Sundays. You get 16 opportunities to go out and play and we didn’t play the way we wanted to last week. We have to develop that mentality that we’re coming off of a performance that isn’t what we want to be. Now that pressure goes to everyone. Certainly having that veteran leadership, I think that will help us. It goes deeper than that to me because it not only goes from game to game but throughout a game. We were in a game on Sunday where things didn’t go our way early and we weren’t able to ride it. We were close a few times to getting back into a rhythm and getting back to where we had a chance to win the game but we couldn’t do that. There are two things, rebounding from a game but also handling the adversity within a game so in this league you’re going to be in situations where you have adversity. You’re going to be in situations where a team puts together a 10-play drive. You’re going to be in situations that don’t come up exactly the way you want but you have to fight through it and find a way to play four quarters and come back from the adversity if you have it.”

On Aubrayo Franklin’s run stop ability:

“He’s playing good. The mix we have in there is outstanding with our defensive line. We didn’t play in the defensive line as well as we did in the first two games but I expect us to bounce back. I think that’s going to be a strength for our team.”

Defensive Coordinator John Pagano

On defending against running back Jamaal Charles:

“He’s someone who’s so explosive. And one thing about Kansas City is that they’re so patient with their running game. We’ve got be sound in our gap control, set a new line of scrimmage and go tackle.”

On the matchup with the Chief’s wide receivers:

“Every week there are going to be those matchup situations. [Jon] Baldwin and [Dwayne] Bowe, they’re very similar and they’re playmakers. They’re guys who go get the ball when it’s thrown in the air. We have to be aggressive with them and take advantage of what they do.”

On the cornerbacks lining up deep off the ball:

“In some of those situations, especially last week, the big thing that we were trying to do is get a pre-snap read. Our mindset from last week was really to try and keep the shell the same and keep giving them the pre-snap look. It helped us a couple of times when they were running the ball. That all went into the game plan of trying to disguise it. And how Atlanta did it last week with the no huddle and that sort of thing, you really have to keep your rhythm, your yardage and all those looks the same.”

On the third down defense after the Ryan Mathews fumble against Atlanta:

“There were five opportunities to get off the field. And we really analyzed and studied them. In those five plays we learned a great deal. We need to get off the field on third down. And it’s something that we’ve been stressing and working on. It doesn’t sit well with us as coaches and with the players. You grow from these things and there’s no science to it. But it’s something that we are addressing. And we just have to go out and play better.”

On the Chargers pass-rush:

“You’ve got to get to the quarterback. Winning a one-on-one matchup is the number-one thing. I’m going to give a lot of credit to Atlanta because that ball comes out quick. We beat them clean on a couple of rushes where the ball was already gone. You need tight coverage in those situations. That 17-play drive is something that we’ve analyzed and looked at.”

On how strong safety Atari Bigby did in coverage against tight end Tony Gonzalez:

“He was going against a Hall of Fame tight end and he’s someone who really challenged him in the situation. It’s a point of emphasis to get these guys re-routed and hit. But they put them in situations a lot of times where it’s hard to do that depending on the call. You have to be aware and critical of matchups like that and where those guys are. This week with the tight end that the Chiefs have, he’s a great route-runner. You have to get your hands on him and disrupt them. You can’t have those situational free-releases.”

On the Chiefs’ center being out for the year:

“[Ryan] Lilja came in that second half and he’s someone who’s done it before. He did it in Indianapolis. He’s a veteran and a leader. You didn’t see much drop off from how they played in the second half with him in there.”

On the defensive game plan against the Chiefs:

“You’ve got to stop the run and try and make them one-dimensional. And you have to be able to pressure the quarterback and get off the field. [Matt] Cassel is a quarterback who can get hot in these situations and he’s played at a high level in this league.”

On safety Atari Bigby:

“I think that Atari fits in well with us. He’s someone who plays with high effort, he tackles, runs to the football and he does everything that we ask him to do. He’s a good leader out there on the field. When he came here we saw the things that he could do. The film of him was limited, but we saw a guy who was explosive and played down in the box.”

On Aubrayo Franklin:

“He’s such a heavy veteran nose guard who knows how to play the game and understands the run game. He helps the other guys around him. He’s seen just about every run and he’s gone against just about every lineman and center in the league so it’s good having him in there at that matchup. He double-teams, reads, sees it and feels things. He knows when certain runs are coming.” Read